Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
I just received a big cover lot I bought on eBay. There are about 175 of these first day covers in the lot.
Some of them are like the top one, with the USPS logo at the top.
The remainders are like the bottom one, with someone's address on it.
In both instances, there are cachets with a strange signature. At first it looks like Artmaster, but looking closely I don't believe it is. All of them are in heat sealed plastic sleeves with thick card stock backing.
I was away from the hobby during this period, so I don't know if indeed these are official USPS FDCs, and how hand addressed covers got put inside the heat sealed plastic envelopes.
Can anyone explain? And I don't know why this collector kept them in the sealed pouches rather than take out the standard number six FDC.
I did buy this lot to add some volume to my eBay store. This is a seller I buy from on occasion, and a typical cover lot in the same Priority Mail Flat Rate box usually yields 500-800 covers. The dealer did not disclose that these heavy cardboard and clear plastic sleeves each take the space and weight of 5 covers! Thus the count on this box was less than 300 covers.
I do realize that buying these bulk boxes is like buying storage lockers... you get what you get. I have made out like a bandit on others I've bought. I do have another large lot coming from same vendor later in the week that appears to be more what I'm expecting. Once I receive this one and make sure it's more what I was anticipating, I will let this dealer know my dislike for this lot, and that he needed to disclose the cardboard filler situation.
Thanks!
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The FDC on the bottom says "American Illustrators".
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Can you show a close-up of the small red logo at left center of the Feb. 1 cover and the black logo at lower left on the May 26 cover?
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I have since figured out that the logo is indeed Artmaster. I cut one cover out of the plastic and there was text on the back of the cover, that indeed said these were Artmaster covers.
I still don't know how these came to be. Were these offerings of the USPS Philatelic Unit? Are they considered "Official USPS FDC Cachets"?
The owner left them in the sealed plastic, will I be doing a sacrilege if I take the covers out?
And the biggest puzzle is hand addressed covers in the sealed envelopes?? I know in my past in the 1970s-1980s when I sent for special cancels, occasionally the servicing post office would cancel my covers, and return them in a USPS postage paid envelope to protect them from harm. In this era was USPS sealing everyone's FDCs for safe return?
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If you ask me, I'd say someone was just trying to protect the covers, nothing official about the wrappings!
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10:04:46pm
The top one is USPS packaging. I can't say for certain, but it is likely that at this time they were using Artmaster cachets for their "official" philatelic agency sales.
The second, addressed one, is likely a subscription service directly from Artmaster. Packaged like that for shipment.
And yes, you should remove them from the packaging. The USPS products specifically state that the "packaging is not suitable for archival philatelic storage."
Roy
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Thanks Roy! Right now I'm waiting on my second box shipment from same vendor. I want to see if the next shipment is more in line with the quantities etc I've received from them in the past. Then I will complain about this lot and see if they want to make amends for shipping me a box of cardboard!
Past that I will remove the covers from the envelopes, and have cardboard envelope stiffeners for my shipments for the next few months!
"And yes, you should remove them from the packaging. The USPS products specifically state that the "packaging is not suitable for archival philatelic storage.""
Agreed! I was just surprised these were in the wrappers after 20 years, which led me to question if people were collecting them that way. Odd but ya never know.
A few years ago a friend of mine gave me a big stack of USPS annual stamp folders. It seems his dead father in law bought a few of these each year, and never took the stamps out of a similar clear plastic. The gum on the stamps reacted to the plastic off gassing and they were all fused together! I wound up soaking them all and gluing them on my mail as postage!
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I just received a big cover lot I bought on eBay. There are about 175 of these first day covers in the lot.
Some of them are like the top one, with the USPS logo at the top.
The remainders are like the bottom one, with someone's address on it.
In both instances, there are cachets with a strange signature. At first it looks like Artmaster, but looking closely I don't believe it is. All of them are in heat sealed plastic sleeves with thick card stock backing.
I was away from the hobby during this period, so I don't know if indeed these are official USPS FDCs, and how hand addressed covers got put inside the heat sealed plastic envelopes.
Can anyone explain? And I don't know why this collector kept them in the sealed pouches rather than take out the standard number six FDC.
I did buy this lot to add some volume to my eBay store. This is a seller I buy from on occasion, and a typical cover lot in the same Priority Mail Flat Rate box usually yields 500-800 covers. The dealer did not disclose that these heavy cardboard and clear plastic sleeves each take the space and weight of 5 covers! Thus the count on this box was less than 300 covers.
I do realize that buying these bulk boxes is like buying storage lockers... you get what you get. I have made out like a bandit on others I've bought. I do have another large lot coming from same vendor later in the week that appears to be more what I'm expecting. Once I receive this one and make sure it's more what I was anticipating, I will let this dealer know my dislike for this lot, and that he needed to disclose the cardboard filler situation.
Thanks!
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05:11:03pm
re: Modern First Day Cover Questions...
The FDC on the bottom says "American Illustrators".
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re: Modern First Day Cover Questions...
Can you show a close-up of the small red logo at left center of the Feb. 1 cover and the black logo at lower left on the May 26 cover?
Login to Like
this post
re: Modern First Day Cover Questions...
I have since figured out that the logo is indeed Artmaster. I cut one cover out of the plastic and there was text on the back of the cover, that indeed said these were Artmaster covers.
I still don't know how these came to be. Were these offerings of the USPS Philatelic Unit? Are they considered "Official USPS FDC Cachets"?
The owner left them in the sealed plastic, will I be doing a sacrilege if I take the covers out?
And the biggest puzzle is hand addressed covers in the sealed envelopes?? I know in my past in the 1970s-1980s when I sent for special cancels, occasionally the servicing post office would cancel my covers, and return them in a USPS postage paid envelope to protect them from harm. In this era was USPS sealing everyone's FDCs for safe return?
Login to Like
this post
re: Modern First Day Cover Questions...
If you ask me, I'd say someone was just trying to protect the covers, nothing official about the wrappings!
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this post
BuckaCover.com - 80,000 covers priced 60c to $1.50 - Easy browsing 500 categories
19 Jan 2022
10:04:46pm
re: Modern First Day Cover Questions...
The top one is USPS packaging. I can't say for certain, but it is likely that at this time they were using Artmaster cachets for their "official" philatelic agency sales.
The second, addressed one, is likely a subscription service directly from Artmaster. Packaged like that for shipment.
And yes, you should remove them from the packaging. The USPS products specifically state that the "packaging is not suitable for archival philatelic storage."
Roy
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this post
re: Modern First Day Cover Questions...
Thanks Roy! Right now I'm waiting on my second box shipment from same vendor. I want to see if the next shipment is more in line with the quantities etc I've received from them in the past. Then I will complain about this lot and see if they want to make amends for shipping me a box of cardboard!
Past that I will remove the covers from the envelopes, and have cardboard envelope stiffeners for my shipments for the next few months!
"And yes, you should remove them from the packaging. The USPS products specifically state that the "packaging is not suitable for archival philatelic storage.""
Agreed! I was just surprised these were in the wrappers after 20 years, which led me to question if people were collecting them that way. Odd but ya never know.
A few years ago a friend of mine gave me a big stack of USPS annual stamp folders. It seems his dead father in law bought a few of these each year, and never took the stamps out of a similar clear plastic. The gum on the stamps reacted to the plastic off gassing and they were all fused together! I wound up soaking them all and gluing them on my mail as postage!
Login to Like
this post